As I have said a few times on my blog, I love the traditions of Prime Ministers Question Time. To me, it's pure theatre. Today however I changed my view.Never before have i witnessed a case of Politics completely loosing the plot!
I refer to the using of the most tragic and brutal case of "Baby P" as political tennis! To see the details of this 18month old babies death served over the dispatch box and volleyed right back sickened me!
The following is a brief summary of today's events:
David Cameron and Gordon Brown have clashed angrily over the inquiry into a baby who died after months of abuse.
The Commons Speaker was forced to step in to tell MPs to "stop shouting across the chamber" and remember the issue was "a little child who has gone".
The row was prompted by the PM accusing the Tory leader of "making a party political issue" of it. Mr Cameron called that "frankly cheap".
Mr Cameron had said an internal probe into Baby P's death was not acceptable.
He had urged the government to intervene at the start of exchanges which BBC political editor Nick Robinson later described as "quite extraordinary".
Mr Cameron said it was "completely unacceptable" that the review into the 17-month-boy's death be undertaken by the council's own children's services director.
He said "nobody is taking responsibility, nobody has resigned" and added of the woman in charge of the review: "She cannot possibly investigate the failure of her own department."
Mr Brown said the case "raises serious questions that we have to address".
The prime minister responded that people had been "horrified and angered" by the story of Baby P's death, but said the government would decide what action to take having just received the full report from Haringey on Wednesday morning.
But the exchange became more heated after the prime minister told Mr Cameron: "I do regret making a party political issue of this."
Mr Cameron said that was a "frankly cheap" response to "perfectly reasonable questions" and demanded he withdraw the comment.
He also said it was "shameful" that Labour MPs were trying to shout him down and urged Mr Brown to consider taking over Haringey social services "and put someone in charge who can run it properly".
Now to me this is just going to far! Cameron & Brown should be brought to book over this disgusting affair! I demand action now! There are boundaries, lines that should not be crossed, this is one of those instances. I personally would have them both publicly flogged!
Over to you, what do you think?
Watch the whole disgusting episode here:
15 comments:
As you will probably expect, I can only half agree with you on this on, as it seems to me that it is Brown who is guilty of making this a partisan issue, not Cameron.
Lets be quite clear, the question that Cameron asked at PMQs was a perfectly proper question raising a very serious concern and it deserved a serious answer. Party politics does not come into the matter at all.
For whatever reason-mabye Brown didn't have an answer, mabye he's getting paranoid or mabye it was just poor judgement-the Prime Minister started chastise Cameron for daring to raise the question. Brown seemed to beleive that by raising the question, Cameron was saying that it was all Brown's fault, or that it was the governments fault. I really can't think what Brown's problem is with the question unless he's feeling jittery because he knows more about it than we do.
And let us also be clear: this is what parliament is FOR! To raise these questions, to find out what went wrong and to try to ensure that it never happens again. If Cameron had NOT raised this issue, he could be accused of failing to do his duty as Leader of HM Opposition.
These sort of things CAN be discussed in a bi-partisan way, and indeed they have been discussed like that in the past. I really don't know why Brown decided to degrade parliament and his office by responding in the way that he did.
Tony,
If you think both of them need flogging, then you need flogging!
Opposition has to be able to take the government to task over truly
slipshod work like this social services dept. The bloody government made Stoke-on-Trent city council hand over responsibility to an outside body,
and Harringey now have the brutal
deaths of two children on their hands! Cameron is ususally wishywashy but in this instance he was absolutely right to demand answers from the leader of a government that is always about to do something about the situation.
The loss of two young lives is far too high a price to pay for Labour
incompetence, and Browns bullsh*t!
Before Tim starts to try to shroud the main issues here with a smokescreen of spelling mistakes, can I just point out that in my rush to comment, I foolishly spelt 'believe' incorrectly just then. As everyone knows, it is always i before e except after c.
Now perhaps Tim can address the main point, if he decides to comment on this.
That pair of pricks need to stop arguing, stand together and give some bastard(s) in Haringey a right good shoeing over this.
I heard some stuff on the radio about the case today and all that seemed to be happening was the people who let this atrocity happen were trying to cloud the issue with things like:
One of the men involved was interested in Nazis
He kept a snake which he fed on dead mice and chicks
The mother used porn sites on teh interwebs
The doctor who examined Baby P should have noticed the broken back
Look it isn't our fault! See.. They were going to be bad parents and the doctor was at fault.
The childrens act was created after this particular council fucked up about 8 years ago with a young girl called Victoria..
I watched the film clip. The question was a fair one which I am sure Brown would have asked had he been the leader of the opposition. Brown bottled it like he did over the election that never was. He was a reasonable (If you forget how he raped your pension fund) number two but never had the kahunas for a number one.
Now no doubt Ill get some 'you can't blame the labour party for the shit state Stoke is in' nonsense from St Bernard or King George or Prince Albert.
YES YOU CAN
20 years ago there were only labour coucillors screwing Stoke
why is it that there are no longer just Labour councillors. Do they ever ask themselves why they are so unpopular in Stoke
You make no sense whatsoever Debbie. Even you probably don't understand what you have typed.
Which party was in Government 20 years ago, I cant remember?
Joseph
Firstly I do not hide behind a fake name.
Yes I do understand what I have just typed.
It does not matter who was in government either here or in Russia you cabbage.
In stoke it was labour.
I had the misfortune to work with Barry Stocklet ET AL (That's not Russian it's latin)
They were self serving,
the end justifies the means, shaft the middle classes, in the mould of Arthur Scargill Trots
Joseph
and like you historically they have been consigned to the the same dungheap on which you will find such luminaries as:
Arthur (LET ME SCREW ME OLD WORKMATES) Scargill
John (Ill SELL MY SON A STREET OF COUNCIL HOUSES FOR £10) Prescott
Tony (WMD) Blair
Lord (CASH FOR A PEERAGE) Levy
I am getting bored now so:
vast numbers of other Totally corrupt Tossers it makes me VOMIT to talk about.
WHICH THE VOTERS OF STOKE NO LONGER WANT
IT IS DEMOCRACY (Great innit)
Stalin
I have just read you enlightened contributions to the recent Blog about the activities of the Mayor.
What is the Russian for
Cretin?
The death of any child is tragic, but this death in the most abhorrent circumstances sickens me to the core. Everyone who follows this blog will feel the same I'm sure. What I question about this sad parliamentary episode is the need to raise this under the guise of PMQ's. This case was serious enough for their to be a full parliamentary cross party debate. It should not of been used to score political points over each other (both were as bad!). There was no dignity, decorum, or sensitivity shown to the plight and inhuman treatment of "baby P" I hope when Brown and Cameron go home tonight and look in on their sleeping kids that they look deep inside themselves and ask "am I proud of myself tonight?"
Yes Debbie, a cretin who got you worked up enough to make three responses.
Must of touched a nerve!
Aaargh (in a very angry way) !!! It's the fault of those immigrants.
Victoria, and now only a few streets away, Baby P.
Mad Sad and Bad!!
Did you see the pictures of the 'father '??
In court with a baseball cap on. He may not be able to afford a formal suit, but he should show some respect for baby P and authority, but no...
Dr Ita O'Donovan was the CEO/Council Manager in Stoke till 2006. She came from Government to 'put us right' ...
It was childrens social services, not education, which brought in Serco and gov intervention.
Guess where she went to in 2006 ?
Yep - Haringey.
Don't rise to the comments of the person posting as Joseph Stalin, Debbie; he's just trying to get a repsponse like an attention seeking child, and then he will probably mock you for taking him seriously in the first place.
If he had any basic intelligence whatsoever, he would be able to distinguish between central government in Westminster and the local council. He would also be able to realise that the dire performance of the local council is NOT the fault of whoever happens to be in power in Westminster-conveinient though that may be to members of the Labour Party.
Since Labour have governed this city for the vast majority of the past 60 years, of course they have to find someone else to blame for the chaos they have created.
Now perhaps we can return to the frankly more important issue at the heart of this debate-the fact that it was a legitimate question for Cameron to ask.
After watching this clip several times, I cannot help but feel total disgust at Brown for this perversity.
He pulled the typycal Labour trick, smear and evade.
Brown as failed to answer any question put to him since jumping into the position.
The man is a total scumbag, and will say anything to try and look good.
As for Haringey, well all you will hear is the same old tripe peddled out "lessons will be learned" to be used over, and over again.
No one will be sacked or lose their jobs.
As for the people responsible for this terrible crime, if ever there was a case for capital punishment this is it.
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